Tastes

Great low-end Rye that's a bit off the beaten path (at least among my ilk). It's not doing anything you haven't experienced in a Rye before, but it is doing everything well. I prefer it in an old-fashioned as opposed to straight, but that's typically the case for Rye's and me.

75, a 3.8 out of 5. Kavalan's single malt offering blends a Scotch's diligence and a longwinded Kentucky hug. The Taiwanese distillery is struggling to find markey share in the shadow of the Japanese whiskey boom, but not from a lack of quality. While the take home price of a bottle in the states is not likely worth it, Kavalan does show off an impressive mutation in style. A less than exciting nose gives birth to a palate of cinnamon apples and sandalwood crescendoing into a long dip in a pool of honey. The nose and the palate are mere stepping stones to a beautiful finish from an abnormally young whiskey. I'm intrigued by the emerging region's interpretation of the water of life. I will reevaluate in a few years. Definitely worth the dram, maybe not the bottle: at least not yet.

Though finished in American oak, the finish is not bourbonlike. A delightful, woody nose makes way for a not-to-soft palate built on the back of a flat and sharp viscosity. It's the lumberyard whiskey to Caol Ila's coastline campsite. Not I credible but credible. Auchentoushan's youngest offering doesn't show off the distilleries style per se, but does offer a dram built for a long day and a longer night.

The first step is the hardest, unless this is your first foray into Scotch. Inexpensive, but abundantly expressive; Glenmorangie 10 is a carriage ride in the hillsides. Light hay in color and a summer live in flavor. This is the standbyme, the weeknight splurge. While some begin in Macallan and others with another Glen. The Original finds its place a little further out, but no less cozy.

A step towards peat after the quintessential Speyside circuit. Not overpowering or aggressive. The Texas summers I spent laying sod and the hot rains that interrupted us spring to mind as Oban offers simplicity, applesauce and peat in equal measure. An inoffensive suggestion for any burgeoning whiskey lover driving via palate through Scotland.

Nose follows through to the finish. The Sherry and American Oak influences are undeniable, you could get it without the bottle, tube and everything in between telling you 14 times. But what it doesn't tell you is the delightful, almost playful palate held in between two fantastic barrels. While wine snobs chase decades old Burgundies for the supple taste of leather to show, we have a mere 12 yr whiskey that envelopes the tongue like fresh leather boots. All silk and no grain, Balvenie's Doublewood showing may lack the nuance of their older showings, but at the price point: no one gives you better boots to pull up.